Phillies prospect Francisco Morales showing flashes at Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, N.J. — The motion is fluid, the ball comes out easily, and when he is in a groove, Francisco Morales can look devastating on the mound.

Like many of his teammates on the Phillies’ low-A Lakewood BlueClaws team, though, Morales is still learning the nuances of his craft.

Signed as an amateur free agent in July 2016, the 19-year-old Venezuelan has had his ups and downs. What excites Lakewood manager Mike Micucci about the 6-foot-4, 185-pound right-hander is that fluid delivery.

“It is pretty fundamentally sound,” Micucci said this week. “It is not a max-effort type.”

As Micucci suggests, Morales doesn’t appear to be straining when he pitches.

“When you watch him, it is kind of just a nice, loose, easy quick arm. The ball comes out of his hand really nice; it kind of jumps at the hitters,” Micucci said. “It has the nice spin you are looking for where he can pitch the elevated part of the zone."

Morales pitched in the Gulf Coast League in 2017, and last year was at short-season Williamsport, where he went 4-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 13 starts. He showed his potential as a power pitcher by striking out 68 in 56 1/3 innings but also walked 33.

“I thought I would repeat [at Williamsport], and when they told me I was coming to Lakewood, I was excited and happy to be here,” Morales said through an interpreter.

Morales is learning English. He can understand questions and can answer some in English.

Micucci says Morales is making the difficult adjustment on and off the field.

“Think about being a teenager and coming to a brand-new country where you don’t understand the culture and the language,” the manager said. “You are trying to survive and you miss your family and all these things are going on, and he has been doing a great job, working hard and making the adjustment.”

Morales concedes it isn’t easy, but it is all part of attempting to reach his dream.

“I do miss my family, but I am just trying to get better every day,” he said.

His top pitch, according to Micucci, is a hard-biting slider, but Morales also has a plus fastball. In Monday’s 4-1 loss to Kannapolis, several of his fastballs were recorded at 95 mph, and one Lakewood official said the radar gun at the ballpark is a few mph slow.

“You look at the frame and the way he is built, and he has a workhorse frame, big and thick, and he can probably log a lot of innings, and then you look at his arsenal,” Micucci said. "He has a plus fastball, an elite slider, and his change-up continues to get better. Plus, he has a repeatable delivery.”

Morales is 0-3 with a 5.23 ERA this season, but he has had stretches of dominance. On May 22, he had 10 strikeouts in four innings and allowed two hits and one walk in a 2-1 loss at Delmarva. In 32 2/3 innings, he has 54 strikeouts and 14 walks.

Lakewood uses two starting pitchers each game to develop the young arms. Sometimes, Morales starts. Other times, such as Monday, he enters in the middle of the game. It’s all part of the learning process in the South Atlantic League.

“I see that the hitters here are very aggressive when they are ahead in the count,” Morales said.

The key with Morales is commanding his fastball, working on improving his change-up, and continuing to learn the routine of a starting pitcher.

“He has a tremendous upside,” Micucci said. “We are happy to have him.”